Coalition forces save 11-day-old baby

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Coalition forces gave an 11-day-old baby boy a blood transfusion at a military treatment facility in Tarin Kowt district, Oruzgan Province yesterday saving his life. 
Family members initially brought the newborn, suffering from severe blood loss, to an Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces outpost in Shahidi Hasas district.  Coalition medical personnel say the baby’s umbilical cord was cut too short following his birth. 
“The baby was bleeding from the belly button.  By the time he came to our clinic, the bleeding had stopped, but he had a low body temperature of only 94 degrees,” a Coalition forces soldier explained. “We provided a transfusion, and now the child is doing very well.”
 “I’m just glad we were nearby and the family could bring the baby to us,” a Coalition forces soldier said.
 This is the second time in less than a month that Coalition medical personnel have saved the life of an Afghan child in Oruzgan.
 On Nov. 30, an unresponsive 18-month-old child was brought to a combat outpost near Cahar Cineh by an Afghan doctor and family members.  According to the child’s father the baby would not sleep, so its mother gave the child a hashish pill to help it sleep, an accepted custom in Afghanistan.
 Coalition medics worked throughout the night with the Afghan doctor to treat the child.  The family was able to take the child home two days later. 
 The baby who nearly bled to death, and his father, is expected to return home in the next day or two.